Supporters of Morsi protest amid crisis
Source: Agencies |
July 8, 2013, Monday
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THOUSANDS of supporters of Egypt's ousted President Mohammed Morsi protested outside his place of detention in Cairo yesterday while a military-driven plan to resolve the political crisis remained mired in mistrust and confusion.
Demonstrators at the Republican Guard barracks, where three people were killed on Friday, shouted "Morsi, Morsi, God is greatest!" and "Peaceful, peaceful!" as soldiers and policemen looked on from behind barbed wire.
"We will not leave until Morsi returns. Otherwise we'll die as martyrs," said 55-year-old Hanim Ahmad Ali Al-Sawi, wearing a veil over her face in the searing midday sun. "This was a coup against democracy."
Morsi was toppled on Wednesday in a takeover the military denied was a coup. The army said it stepped in to enforce the will of millions of Egyptians who rallied on June 30 demanding his resignation.
But while Morsi's ouster was met with scenes of jubilation, it angered Islamists who held protests on Friday in which more than 30 people were killed and 1,400 wounded.
The violence across the Arab world's most populous state saw rival factions fighting street battles in central Cairo and many others cities and towns, and underlined the pressing need for a swift and inclusive political solution.
Egypt's allies in the West, including main aid donors the United States and the European Union, and in Israel, with which Egypt has had a US-backed peace treaty since 1979, have looked on with increasing alarm.
The transitional authorities had been set to appoint liberal politician Mohamed ElBaradei, a favorite of young anti-Morsi protest leaders, before his candidacy was thrown into doubt when a hardline Islamist party objected.
The abrupt U-turn due to opposition from the Nour Party, Egypt's second Islamist force after the Brotherhood, highlighted the challenge the military faces in finding consensus among liberals and conservatives on who should run the country and what direction they should lead it in.
"We extend our hand to everyone," a presidential spokesman said late on Saturday. "The Muslim Brotherhood has plenty of opportunities to run for all elections including the coming presidential elections or the ones to follow."
Further detention
Minutes after he spoke, state media reported that the public prosecutor had ordered four top Brotherhood leaders arrested this week to be detained for a further 15 days on accusations of inciting violence against protesters.
The Brotherhood has said it wants nothing to do with the military's plans for a new interim government. It wants Morsi reinstated and has pledged to keep protesting until he is.
The military has shown no sign of moving to dislodge the Islamists and may be hoping that sweltering summer heat and the onset of the Ramadan Muslim fasting month from tomorrow will gradually wear them down.
The Nour Party, the Brotherhood's rival for the Islamist vote, had agreed to the army-backed transition plan leading to new elections. Its withdrawal from the process would strip that plan of Islamist legitimacy.
Demonstrators at the Republican Guard barracks, where three people were killed on Friday, shouted "Morsi, Morsi, God is greatest!" and "Peaceful, peaceful!" as soldiers and policemen looked on from behind barbed wire.
"We will not leave until Morsi returns. Otherwise we'll die as martyrs," said 55-year-old Hanim Ahmad Ali Al-Sawi, wearing a veil over her face in the searing midday sun. "This was a coup against democracy."
Morsi was toppled on Wednesday in a takeover the military denied was a coup. The army said it stepped in to enforce the will of millions of Egyptians who rallied on June 30 demanding his resignation.
But while Morsi's ouster was met with scenes of jubilation, it angered Islamists who held protests on Friday in which more than 30 people were killed and 1,400 wounded.
The violence across the Arab world's most populous state saw rival factions fighting street battles in central Cairo and many others cities and towns, and underlined the pressing need for a swift and inclusive political solution.
Egypt's allies in the West, including main aid donors the United States and the European Union, and in Israel, with which Egypt has had a US-backed peace treaty since 1979, have looked on with increasing alarm.
The transitional authorities had been set to appoint liberal politician Mohamed ElBaradei, a favorite of young anti-Morsi protest leaders, before his candidacy was thrown into doubt when a hardline Islamist party objected.
The abrupt U-turn due to opposition from the Nour Party, Egypt's second Islamist force after the Brotherhood, highlighted the challenge the military faces in finding consensus among liberals and conservatives on who should run the country and what direction they should lead it in.
"We extend our hand to everyone," a presidential spokesman said late on Saturday. "The Muslim Brotherhood has plenty of opportunities to run for all elections including the coming presidential elections or the ones to follow."
Further detention
Minutes after he spoke, state media reported that the public prosecutor had ordered four top Brotherhood leaders arrested this week to be detained for a further 15 days on accusations of inciting violence against protesters.
The Brotherhood has said it wants nothing to do with the military's plans for a new interim government. It wants Morsi reinstated and has pledged to keep protesting until he is.
The military has shown no sign of moving to dislodge the Islamists and may be hoping that sweltering summer heat and the onset of the Ramadan Muslim fasting month from tomorrow will gradually wear them down.
The Nour Party, the Brotherhood's rival for the Islamist vote, had agreed to the army-backed transition plan leading to new elections. Its withdrawal from the process would strip that plan of Islamist legitimacy.
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